ATDIWR Chapter 36
by VolareAfter the test results came out, Ji An did not stop and went straight to the command center. Seeing his ice-cold expression, Gu Jinsheng asked, “Is it the zombie virus?”
“Yes, a liquid containing the zombie virus.” Ji An’s expression was cold.
Jing Shi Base has strict protection measures. Everyone going out on missions needs to wear complete protective suits, protective shoes, protective masks, protective gloves, and protective glasses.
Uninjured Power Users can enter the Base after washing with a special cleaning solution. Injured members need to stay in isolation for ten days and safely pass the evolution period before entering.
To ensure the safety of the Base residents, Jing Shi Base has always been very strict with these protective measures. In recent years, aside from the initial period of chaos, the Base has never had internal infections.
“Have you found out their purpose?” Ji An asked.
“They haven’t confessed yet.” Zhou Qin shook his head.
“I’ll do it myself.” Gu Jinsheng took out a pair of white gloves and said to Ji An as he walked, “You go back.”
Zhou Qin explained, “Our Boss’s methods are a bit bloody, I’m afraid you’ll be scared to watch.”
Ji An shook his head. “I don’t care about that. Nothing is as terrifying as human hearts.”
Ji An insisted, staring straight at Gu Jinsheng, refusing to back down. Gu Jinsheng’s eyes deepened, and in the end, he said nothing and walked into the interrogation room.
Sitting inside the interrogation room was not an R Nation person, but the only male Huaguo national among this group.
He was tied to a stool. Seeing Gu Jinsheng come in, he began to struggle violently. Because they still needed him to confess, his mouth was not gagged, and he could still speak.
The man shouted loudly, “You have already made Mr. Koyuan Jiro retarded, you have thoroughly offended the R Nation. You must release the others immediately and ensure their safety, otherwise, the R Nation will absolutely not let this go easily.”
The area around T Base was where the most R Nation people lived before The Apocalypse. After The Apocalypse, transportation was cut off, and a large number of R Nation people were stranded there. Province T even has a small Base specifically established by R Nation people, consisting entirely of R Nation people.
Recently, internal strife in various countries abroad has ended, and the domestic situation has stabilized. Many forces are becoming restless and have the energy to turn their attention to Huaguo again.
“Did you hear what I said? The R Nation will absolutely not let this go easily!” the man continued to shout.
Gu Jinsheng said nothing. He just took off the white gloves he had just put on, dipped his slender fingers into the water, and washed them one by one.
Zhou Qin timely handed over a handkerchief as white as snow. Gu Jinsheng took it, wiped the water from his hands, and then threw the handkerchief, which was only wet but still spotlessly white, into the trash can.
It was such a simple action, yet it inexplicably shocked the man. He didn’t know why this made him more nervous than directly applying torture to him.
The man swallowed. “W-what do you want to do! I, I am kindly advising you because we are all Huaguo nationals! Don’t provoke the R Nation people, they are not someone you can afford to provoke!”
Gu Jinsheng still didn’t speak. It was as if he couldn’t hear the man’s words. He continued to move at his own pace, neither fast nor slow.
Beside the wall of the interrogation room were various torture racks, and on the racks were all sorts of torture instruments. Some of them still had solidified brown liquid sticking to them.
Gu Jinsheng walked slowly in front of the torture instruments. On his cold face, his dark eyes slowly swept over each terrifying instrument, as if meticulously selecting his favorite toys.
He walked past one horrifying instrument after another, finally stopping at a few thin sheets of mulberry paper hanging alone on a wooden torture rack.
Gu Jinsheng’s gaze fell on the mulberry paper. Zhou Qin smiled, a strange smile that looked sinister in the man’s eyes.
“You are lucky,” Zhou Qin said, sounding as if he were sincerely complimenting the man, but his tone made people increasingly tremble with fear.
Zhou Qin clicked his tongue and said, “Do you know what this is? This is mulberry paper. I specially cultivated and produced it. I looked up many ancient books and put in a lot of effort to make it.”
Gu Jinsheng, with the white gloves on, held the mulberry paper by two corners, gently dipped it into the water, and slowly wet it.
Zhou Qin explained wholeheartedly, “The biggest characteristic of mulberry paper is that it is particularly good at absorbing water.”
As Zhou Qin finished speaking, Gu Jinsheng had already methodically placed the mulberry paper on the man’s face.
Little by little, the man watched as his face was covered. The thin sheet of paper, when it met his face, clung firmly to him like a blood leech, so tight, so tight. It was so tight that he couldn’t open his mouth to breathe, so tight that no air could get in.
“You know what, I heard that when people in ancient times used this torture, those who were punished couldn’t even withstand five sheets of paper. I wonder how many sheets a Power User’s physical quality can endure. It must be stronger than ordinary people, right? Withstanding five sheets should be no problem…”
The man only felt the voice by his ear was faint, as if blowing out from hell, and it carried a bone-chilling coldness.
It seemed another sheet of paper covered his face, and even more air was pushed away.
The man opened his mouth wide, but he couldn’t breathe in a single bit of air.
No, he, he can’t breathe anymore…
The man began to struggle violently, shaking his head hard, trying to shake off the mulberry paper on his face.
But the mulberry paper stuck to his face as if it had grown there.
The pain of being unable to breathe, accompanied by the fear of death, enveloped him. The man was so scared that he wet himself.
I’ll talk, I’ll talk…
The man wanted to shout, wanted to scream, but could only make muffled sounds.
No, he doesn’t want to die…
Suddenly, the mulberry paper on his face was removed, and a large amount of fresh, sweet air rushed into his nostrils and mouth. The man breathed deeply, gasping for air. He breathed so hard that he choked and coughed, and his lungs burned with pain.
“I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything…”
When Gu Jinsheng walked out of the interrogation room, he looked up and glanced at the glass. Ji An was standing behind that glass. He couldn’t see him, but he knew he could see him.
“Did he confess?” Ji An stood behind the glass and could only see what was happening inside the interrogation room, but couldn’t hear the conversation between the few people.
Gu Jinsheng looked deeply at Ji An, wanting to find even a trace of his opinion about his interrogation methods on his face, but he saw that Ji An only wanted to know the result.
“Yes, he confessed.” Gu Jinsheng nodded.
Thinking of what the man confessed, Zhou Qin gritted his teeth in hatred. “There were ten people in their group. Three of them hid things inside their bodies, planning to release them at the auction after sneaking into the Base when they found an opportunity.
Those who come to the auction are either commanders of various Bases or high-ranking officials from various Bases. In short, almost all of them are high-level Power Users from various Bases.
If these Power Users were infected with the zombie virus at the Jing Shi Base auction and said it had nothing to do with Jing Shi Base, that they were ambushed, the high-ranking officials from other Bases wouldn’t believe it either.”
Gu Jinsheng’s eyes grew colder and colder.
Zhou Qin continued, “By then, they will inevitably join forces to attack Jing Shi Base, and Huaguo will definitely fall into internal strife.”
Ji An’s eyes were cold and deep. “Taking a step back, even if Huaguo doesn’t have internal fighting, the major Bases losing so many high-level Power Users at once will inevitably lead to internal fighting, a reshuffle within the Bases.
There will also be a considerably long period of chaos, allowing them to exploit the situation and infiltrate spies into Huaguo. If done well, they might even gain command of several Bases.”
“That’s right.” Zhou Qin sneered, “Unfortunately, the R Nation people are arrogant and conceited. They lick the butt of M Nation people and think we will too. Relying on one golden retriever, they don’t know how to show off. They originally wanted to give us a warning, but they ended up making themselves idiots!”
Suddenly, Zhou Qin let out a cold laugh. “Do you know what’s most ridiculous? Those R Nation people wanted to cause trouble, and they even brought a few women for pleasure. Those low-level female Power Users were specifically brought for enjoyment. Those R Nation people completely disregarded our Jing Shi Base! They weren’t careful enough when causing trouble, treating us like a bunch of idiots!”
“How should we deal with these people?” Ji An asked Gu Jinsheng.
“Kill them all, except for the golden retriever,” Gu Jinsheng said softly, his eyes on Ji An.
Every time Gu Jinsheng spoke to Ji An, his eyes would look seriously into Ji An’s eyes, as if talking to Ji An was extremely important in itself, so important that every word he said needed to be treated seriously.
Zhou Qin was afraid Ji An wouldn’t understand and explained, “If it were a few months ago, we could kill the golden retriever without hesitation. But not now. The internal strife in M Nation has just ended, and the various Bases have formed an alliance. Now they finally have the energy to aim their guns outward. They have to go outward; what can they grow on that barren land? Only through bandit-like actions of burning, killing, and looting can they survive.
Now they just need an excuse to declare war on Huaguo, and we cannot give them this excuse.”
“We are not ready yet, we still need some time. Other Bases are also not ready, we all still need some time.”
Zhou Qin spoke of these matters with worry.
Ji An understood. He understood these things. International confrontations are often not as simple as children fighting a war. It is too complex, and every decision is paved with thousands upon thousands of blood and human lives.
Those who bleed and lose their lives are often the ordinary people at the lowest level.
Ji An nodded. “I understand.”
“But don’t worry, we won’t let the golden retriever off that easily either. We won’t miss out on any compensation we should get.” Zhou Qin smiled and said casually, “It’s good that you understand. Our Boss doesn’t want to be misunderstood by you as a timid coward.”
Zhou Qin glanced at Gu Jinsheng, then grinned and added, “Our Boss’s interrogation methods are usually very bloody and violent, you know. He has never used such gentle methods. He has always disdained such wimpy stuff. I don’t know what’s going on today, he suddenly changed.”
After Zhou Qin finished speaking, he walked away leisurely with his hands behind his back. Gu Jinsheng looked at Ji An and said seriously, “Not violent, I don’t commit domestic violence, I don’t kill wives.”
“…” Ji An.
Jing Shi Base has been very lively lately. Delegations from various Bases have arrived one after another. Having come all this way, few were willing to stay cooped up in hotels, so Jing Shi Base arranged special guides to show these people around.
Of course, this was both accompanying and monitoring, to prevent these delegations from causing trouble.
The guides taking these people around would not go to places like East City’s slums. They would only visit areas near the command center in West City.
The command center had long ago notified the various shops in the Base to be prepared. While ensuring sufficient stock, they must absolutely not let the various Bases sweep the goods.
In these times, grain is scarce. Besides natural and man-made disasters, production depends on Wood-type, Earth-type, and Water-type Power Users. These Power Users often play a decisive role, sometimes even more important than natural and man-made disasters.
Power Users are already a minority, and those with these few plant-related abilities are even fewer. The level of ability also affects grain yield. A minority supporting the majority means there can’t possibly be enough food.
To prevent other Bases from taking advantage of the situation to buy large quantities of grain, all food and water in the major shops within the Base are limited during the auction period.
Despite all these measures, it still couldn’t stop the enthusiasm of the various Bases for buying grain.
Jing Shi Base’s largest supermarket almost became one of the must-visit supermarkets for delegations from various Bases. The main reason was the ample supply of goods and wide variety.
Just as the various delegations were sweeping through, a voice with a strange accent suddenly rang out, “Didn’t they say Jing Shi Base is one of the largest Bases within Huaguo? Why are there so few things?”
Power Users have highly developed five senses and keen hearing. They can hear the sound of a needle dropping clearly. So when that Power User said that, almost all the Power Users in the entire supermarket could hear it.
Several Power Users from the Third Base were making massive purchases. The shopping cart in front of each person was filled with the maximum amount allowed per person.
Ding Yong had two shopping carts in front of him. One was his own, and the other belonged to the woman he brought.
The woman he brought was a recent acquisition. She was young, only eighteen years old, looked okay, quite pretty. Although her past experience was somewhat sordid, Ding Yong didn’t care much.
He was over fifty, an old man with one foot in the grave. Which pure and innocent young girl would follow him?
The most important thing was, before The Apocalypse came, Ding Yong had always been a poor old bachelor who couldn’t even afford underwear. Young women and married women within ten miles would walk around him when they saw him. He was driven crazy by his desire for women.
Unexpectedly, The Apocalypse came one day, everyone became poor, and then he accidentally awakened an ability.
However, even after he awakened his ability, those slightly decent-looking girls still looked down on him, disliking his sloppiness, vulgarity, and lack of education, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth whenever he spoke. Those willing to follow him were old ladies over fifty, who had suffered more in The Apocalypse than he had in his youth. Even so, Ding Yong was satisfied; at least he knew what a woman’s charm was like.
Later, this woman took the initiative to hook up with him. She was the most beautiful woman Ding Yong could get close to. Even among a pile of beauties, this woman would have her place. He heard she was previously the woman of a former Base commander. Just thinking about it made Ding Yong’s blood boil. He had never dreamed in his life that he could one day sleep with the women of those important figures!
Yes, this woman was none other than Tang Tang!
Tang Tang was alright with Song Pengcheng at first. Although Song Pengcheng didn’t respect her, he wouldn’t really do anything to her.
But as time passed, day after day, her healing ability was slow to recover. Song Pengcheng changed, becoming heartless. He even forcibly dragged her to receive clients.
Tang Tang would never want to remember the misery of that period.
Later, she had Ding Yong as a client once. He was the Power User with the highest ability she could reach and the only one willing to help her. Tang Tang used tactics to hook up with Ding Yong.
She killed Song Pengcheng, dismembered him, and made him into a human pig, only then did the hatred in her heart subside.
Now Ding Yong was her biggest support. To firmly bind Ding Yong, Tang Tang would abandon her dignity in bed and do anything, using all her tricks to persuade Ding Yong to agree to bring her to Jing Shi Base.
Tang Tang had an obsession with this place, or rather, a desire for someone in Jing Shi Base.
Ever since Tang Tang came out of that devil’s den, whenever she went to bed with Ding Yong, the handsome face of Jing Shi Base Commander Zhou Qin was what came to mind.
Rich, handsome, and so young, although somewhat cold and heartless, that was even better. Such a person, once someone captured their heart, would be devoted and unwavering until death.
Tang Tang couldn’t help but smile at the corner of her mouth when she thought about capturing Zhou Qin’s heart.
Just as she was indulging in beautiful fantasies, several arrogant-looking Power Users nearby spoke up and interrupted her reverie.
Tang Tang looked over and knew that the few people were not from Huaguo; they must be from the Kimchi Nation.
“And they even have purchase limits. What good stuff is this? They’re doing this limited purchase thing. Do they have any experience?!” another Power User echoed.
“This place is really backward. They don’t even have the kimchi I want to buy. I wonder if the people at Jing Shi Base have ever eaten kimchi or know what it tastes like?”
These three noticed that they had attracted the attention of people in the supermarket. When they spoke again, not only did they not lower their voices, but they deliberately spoke loudly, as if afraid others wouldn’t hear.
Honestly, what those Kimchi Power Users said was quite conscienceless. This large supermarket in Jing Shi Base was absolutely incomparable to one before The Apocalypse.
But in The Apocalypse, under conditions of scarce resources, being able to set up something this large and with such a complete range of goods is impressive enough to rank among the top globally.
Stupid slandering doesn’t reflect on the slandered person; it only makes the slanderer appear foolish and arrogant.
Almost all the Power Users’ eyes were filled with disdain and contempt.
However, this did not include Tang Tang. Before The Apocalypse, Tang Tang came from a poor family and loved watching Kimchi Nation idol dramas. She was full of fantasies about the Kimchi Nation, even finding the tribal hot pot in Kimchi Nation idol dramas more impressive than domestic instant noodles.
Therefore, when these Kimchi Nation Power Users made their foolish remarks, Tang Tang’s first reaction was not to refute, but to examine herself.
Then her face felt hot and she felt that what the Kimchi Nation people said was very reasonable.
They did seem a bit ignorant. Putting everything else aside, look at the things in their shopping carts, they were all like brown rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and so on. Especially the brown rice, the bran wasn’t completely removed and was mixed in. It wasn’t refined at all. Yet they were snatching them up in large quantities, and they even had purchase limits. It really seemed petty and ignorant.
Thinking about it, the Kimchi Nation shouldn’t be like this, right? Even if it’s The Apocalypse, such a romantic country must still be like a fantasy idol drama.
Clearly, everyone was looking at those few Power Users with contempt, but Tang Tang just felt that some of the looks were intentionally or unintentionally sweeping over the brown rice with bran in her shopping cart, mocking her poverty.
Tang Tang’s face was burning. She really couldn’t stand it. Although these things weren’t hers to buy, and she didn’t have the money, she still couldn’t resist grabbing a bag of brown rice with bran and putting it back on the shelf.
As soon as she put it back, it was immediately taken away. Just as Tang Tang wanted to take out the second bag from the shopping cart, Ding Yong snatched it away.
“What are you doing? Are you going crazy?” Ding Yong reprimanded angrily.
Tang Tang was jolted back to some sense by the angry shout. Her head was no longer burning hot, and she felt a little scared. But then she thought of the Kimchi Power Users’ words and became self-righteous again. “Don’t you think what they said is right? This is just brown rice with husks not cleaned off. This kind of stuff scrapes your throat when cooked. Before The Apocalypse, pigs wouldn’t even eat it.
But now, we are snatching it up in large quantities, as if it’s some rare treasure.
And we’re even snatching them until they’re all gone. Don’t you think this is truly too shabby?”